California State University, Monterey Bay
EN-9: Community Partnerships

"The mission of the Service Learning Institute is to foster and promote social justice by cultivating reciprocal service and learning partnerships among CSUMB students, faculty, staff and the surrounding tri-county community. One example of a Service learning project is the Chinatown Renewal: The 12-square blocks that form Salinas’ Chinatown are, literally and figuratively, cut off from much of the rest of the greater community. The area is blocked from a main thoroughfare by railroad tracks, and blocked from full participation with the rest of the City because of its reputation as a haven for illicit activity.

California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) and the Salinas Downtown Community Board (SDCB), comprised of stakeholders in the neighborhood, including various houses of worship, nonprofit agencies that serve the homeless, community members, property owners and businesses, are all collaborating to determine the future of Chinatown. The theme for this Project is, “Creating a Thriving Community.”

In 2007, grant-contracted planners used a 19th-Century technique of French origin known as charrette (often used to describe the intense work done by art and architecture students to meet deadlines) to bring openness to the design definition process. Over 300 community members were involved in the experience, which resulted in the creation of the Chinatown Renewal Project Plan.

What has been envisioned includes condominiums over retail, outdoor cafes, a pedestrian bridge to re-connect Chinatown to the main area of Old Town Salinas, community parks, a single location for community/social services, consideration of traffic roundabouts, and transformation of all one-way streets to allow for two-way traffic.

Chinatown conditions have already improved because of the presence of CSUMB students, who are required to participate in service learning as part of their degree program, and community members engaged in urban transformation. Multiple signs proclaiming the area as a “drug free zone” have gone up in the neighborhood, and illicit activity is down, due not only to increased police presence, but also the cooperation between nonprofit agencies, community members, property owners and businesses."

Return of the Natives (RON) - a campus based program to restore native habitat in parks and coastal areas of our regional community. RON woks with local school groups and people developmental differences to propagate native plants on campus and plant in the community.

RON is an ongoing program that is currently over 10 years old. RON's mission is to bring nature closer to people, and people closer to nature through hands-on experiences in community based habitat restoration and environmental education.

Sustainable City Year Program - CSUMB has patnered with the City of Salinas on the Sustainable City Year program. The City of Salinas is located in the heart of the agriculutral region of central California. It has one of the highest rates of gang-influenced crime in the State and a per capita homicide rate that is one of the highest in the country. Through the SCYP campus faculty and students from 4 different disciplines worked with City stakeholders, primarily from the Planning and Operations Department to develop and propose programs to improve, infrastructure (including wireless to allow more people to be connected and a "road diet" to improve infrastructure for bicycle users.)